Ja safe for investment, says Holness

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has assured potential international investors that Jamaica has adopted a mindset of proper fiscal management and discipline that will result in guaranteed safety and stability of business assets.

Holness gave that assurance while addressing the second day of the third triennial Jamaica Investment Forum held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James yesterday. The triennial forum, which was launched in 2012, is being held over a three-day period under the theme 'Connect for Business'.

In his address, Holness said that Jamaica's lesson of fiscal discipline was gained following the global financial crisis of 2009.

"In 2009, when all countries faced the global financial fallout, our reserves were tumbling, and we approached the International Monetary Fund. In the face of crisis, civil society, the business class, and the political class came on board and reached a consensus that Jamaica must have fiscally prudent policies," said Holness.

"We now have economic certainty. Fiscal discipline is a part of the DNA of government regardless of whichever administration is in power. And if I were an investor, I would be very happy with a country that has finally achieved that status," Holness argued. "Jamaica is ready to connect with your business, and we are ready to connect your business with Jamaica."

Holness said further: "Investors want to be certain about the environment in which they are going to place their hard-earned funds. What Jamaica is offering is a 'certain' environment, an environment in which you can take the risk."

"We are now institutionalising proper fiscal management, not necessarily in our constitutional arrangement. But the protection that will be placed around it will be almost constitutional.

"Therefore, investors [you] can take comfort that you are engaging in an economic environment that will have long-term stability and certainty for your investment," the prime minister stated.